Regia Marina

The Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. The navy was established after the unification of Italy, and the navy first saw action in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, during which it was defeated by Austria at the Battle of Lissa. The navy would later see action in the Italo-Turkish War, World War I, Spanish Civil War, the Annexation of Albania, and World War II, using World War I-vintage battleships. The Italian surface fleet was destroyed by the Royal Navy at the Battle of Taranto in 1940, and submarines took part in the Battle of the Atlantic until the 1943 armistice with the Allied Powers. The Regia Marina's sailors mostly surrendered to the Allies afterwards, with the fleets at Genoa and La Spezia being scuttled by the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany. The Italian Navy replaced the Regia Marina in 1946.